Saturday's Ride (aka Mike's bad weekend)

Yesterday (Thursday) I went for a ride after supper. I wasn't sure where I was going, but before I knew it, I was on my way for an epic ride. Work had been getting to me lately, and the restructuring at our company has not been kind to me and my psyche.

I have been itching to go for a great, long ride to clear my head. I can feel it in my gut when I need to get out and ride. It is especially apparent when I haven't gone for a while, or the last ride or two sucked. This was the case. I started out going on the (Lake Ontario) Waterfront Trail, a simple, multi-use gravel path, just to get the feel for what lay ahead, in terms of how wet the real trails would be.

Once I got started, I had decided that this would be my night to blow off some steam. So I headed down the path along the Welland Canal, and headed south towards Thorold. As I kept on going, I thought about how far it was to return home, but I didn't seem to care, and kept on riding.

I continued up the escarpment towards Brock University, and began to feel it in my knees a bit, but kept on going. I was looking forward to going behind Brock, and hydro hill, a killer uphill climb, but a great downhill road. I sped down that hill like a man on a mission. At this point I had travelled 27km (16-17 miles).

I was about to engage in the pleasure of some really nice trails that ended up downtown. Some really sweet descending trails with the right mix of ups and downs to make it fun. I was going down the first technical section, lights flooding the trail, and I was in the groove. The first turn would reveal a nice little descent and then...CRUNCH...something happened that wouldn't let me ride any longer. I looked down to see my rear derailleur in a tangled mess in my back wheel. The trail ended up being way muddier than I expected, and my bike did not like that...

I knew there was a reason I had a winter/mud beater and was so glad that I didn't take the new bike. The thought of replacing components on that one just gives me the creeps. Looks like I'll be shopping for a new derailleur, repairing or replacing the now bent rim ...or even getting a new back wheel, with more gears... maybe I should consider new shifters....